Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is a highly probative, emotional exploration of the formative years of America’s premiere troubadour and singing poet laureate, Bruce Springsteen. The film follows the pop legend’s journey and the genius from his bedroom in Freehold, New Jersey to his first recording in a farmhouse in Colts Neck. Performances at New Jersey’s legendary music venue Stone Pony figure prominently.
Whit acquits himself superbly in the singing performances. ” I just had to let go of this Springsteen guy and throw myself into portraying the character,” he recounted in an interview at the films NYFF 63 Premiere.
A pivotal scene involves events at midtown Manhattan’s Columbia Records where Springsteen recorded his landmark as album Nebraska.
At the screening there were several seasoned journalists who were brought to tears by Cooper’s heartfelt depiction of Springsteen’s tortured rise to international fame.
Springsteen’s character is a complicated mix of taciturn stoicism and explosive temperament. As star actor Jeremy Allen White so masterfully portrays in this superb biographical drama, Springsteen is capable of baring his soul to the world while keeping his innermost needs hidden from those who care about him most.
Dogged by parental abuse and a complicated relationship with an alcoholic father, Springsteen’s sensitive and insightful songs were the outgrowth of a crucible of pain. As an artist and as an individual, he wore his heart on his sleeve. Yet, when confronted with his vulnerabilities, he was the first to retreat into a defensive shell
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere charts his struggles from a painful childhood to his rise into a global superstar. The main story centers around the development of his seminal ‘Nebraska’ album of the early 80s. Jeremy Strong is the self-effacing guard rail to Springsteen ‘s destructive Impulses. Odessa Young gives an Oscar consideration-worthy portrayal of the composite girlfriend character of Faye. Stephen Graham gives a nuanced performance of the alternately loathsome and pathetic character of Springsteen’s father Douglas.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere premieres in theatres October 24. From 20th Century Studios. Visit filmlinc.org for more in NYFF 63.
dcasimere@thetimesweekly.com
